Vehicle-carrying rack



1964 K. w. BINDING 3,132,780

VEHICLE-CARRYING RACK Filed Jan. 27, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I nlIlllll y1964 K. w. BINDING 3,132,780

VEHICLE-CARRYING RACK Filed Jan. 27, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United StatesPatent VEHICLE-CARRYING RACK Kenneth W. Binding, Winchester, Mass,assignor to Market Forge Company, Everett, Mass, a corporation Thisinvention relates to carrying racks for vehicles and especially to racksof the kind for supporting relatively long slender articles, such asskis, on the roof of an automobile.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide racks includingarticle supports which can be clamped to the rain gutters at oppositesides of the roof of an automobile; to provide racks which have articleclamps which may be manipulated independently of the clamping of thesupports to the gutters; to provide racks with means for simultaneouslylocking the article clamps and the supports to the vehicle to preventunauthorized removal; to provide racks with means for latching the artcle clamps in position preparatory to irremovably locking the racks inplace; to provide racks in which the article clamps, when released,normally stand up at angles such that the latches are above the articlesupports so as to to provide racks in which there are means to preventunauthorized removal of the articles from between the clamps by slidingthem laterally or lengthwise; and to provide racks which are durable,pleasing in appearance and easy to manufacture.

,In accordance with the invention the racks have rigid, elongate articlesupports adapted to be disposed transversely of the'top of the vehiclewith legs at their ends, the lower extremities of which are adapted torest in the rain gutters to hold the supports above and parallel to thetop of the vehicle. "Leg clamps are mounted at the lower ends of thelegs for engagement with the outer sides of the gutters and there arescrew bolts for drawing the leg clamps and legs into clamping engagementfacilitate mounting or removing the articles to be carried;

with the gutters. For securing the racks to the vehicle In the preferredform the elements are flexible cables adapted to extend. between thelintels into "the vehicle which have buttons at their inner ends whichare too large to pass through the spaces between the lintels when thedoors are closed. Article clamps are connected at one end to thesupports and have at their distal ends latches adapted to extenddownwardly along the legs when'the clamps are parallel tothe supports.Each. latch contains a hole adapted to'pass over the head of theclamping screw, the hole being so situated that, when engaged with thehead of the screw, it holds the latch in clamping position. In oueform,the latches are chan nel-shaped so that-the walls along their oppositesides embrace the legs and the end-portions of the article supports andclamps, thereby preventing lateral moveposed between the supports andclamps of pairs of parallel racks;

FIG. 2 is' an'elevation, to larger scale, atone side of the carrier,broken adjacent the means for clampin it to the rain gutter;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged section of the means for attaching' the carrier tothe rain gutters, showing also the means for locking the carrier to thevehicle;

FIG. 4 is an outside elevation of one of the latches for securing theclamps in parallel relation to the supports;

FIG. 5 is an inside elevation of one of the latches;

FIG. 6 is an elevationat one side of the carrier showing a clampelevated from the support and the two positions of the latch; and

REG. 7 is a plan view of the stretcher bar.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a pair of carriers1% disposed transversely of the roof of a vehicle 12 in spaced parallelrelation longitudinally thereof, with their end extremities fastened tothe rain gutters along the opposite sides of the roof. Each carrier 100is made up of two racks and each rack comprises a pair of spacedparallel, rigid channel-shaped bars 102 and 104 which constitute,respectively, article supports and article clamps. The supports 102 haveat their inner ends downwardly projecting headed members 1436 adapted tobe slidablyengaged with slots 168 in a stretcher bar 110. The adjacentends of the slots have enlarged openings through which the heads of themembers 106 can be inserted so that they may he slidably engaged withthe slots. Clamping screws 112 are adapted to bescrewed into each of thesupports through the-slots to bind the supports to the stretcher bar atthe proper position. The opposite end of each of the supports 192 has anoutwardly open channel-shaped leg 114 fastened to it which extendsdownwardly therefrom and "has at its lower extremity a splayedfoot 116for engagement with the inner side of thegutter along the side of thetop of the vehicle. A leg clamp 118 is mounted on the lower extremity ofthe leg by means of a screw bolt l20having'a head l22 and a shank 124,the latter being screwed into a ferrule 126 welded or otherwise securedto the leg. The leg clamp 118 has a slot 123 through which the shank ofthe screw passes to permit heightwise adjustment of'the leg clamp and isadjustable by means of an adjusting screw 130 threaded through a flange132 at its upper endQthe lower end of the screw bearing against anabutrnent 134 on the leg. The lower extrem- 'ity of each leg clamp has acovering 136 of a suitable ment of the articles lodged-between thesupports and plastic material to prevent scratching the outside ofthegutter. By rotating thescrew bolts the leg clamps may 'be drawn towardthe legs to grip the gutters in such fashion as to hold the supportssecurely in place on the top of the vehicle. j v v Each support 102 hasfastened to its upper side at its inner end vertically disposed,transversely spaced plates 138 138, the plates being the legs of a.U-shaped bracket, the lower "end of which'is seated within the channelof the support 102 and rigidly fixed thereto by the headed member 196.The clamp 104 is pivotally connected at its inner end between the plates138-138 by a pin 1.49. A flat leaf spring 142 is rivetedto the innerside ofthe clamp 104, forwardly of the pin 149, extends between theclamp 104 and the pin and downwardly at the forward side of a pin 143fixed transversely of the plates 138-138 subjacent the pin 140, whichholds the spring stressed so that normally the spring tends to hold theclamp 104 at an elevated position such as shown in FIG.

At the distal end of the clamps 104 there are channelshaped latches 144which are pivotally connected by pins 145 to the clamps 104 and extenddownwardly along the legs 114 when the clamps are parallel to thesupports. The lower end of the latch 144 contains an opening 147 whichis large enough to pass over the head 122 of the bolt 120 so that itdoes not interfere with rotation of the bolt. Yieldable strips 148 and155i of sponge rubber, or the like, are disposed in the channels of thesupports and clamps for engagement with the articles to be clamped inplace. The hole 147 in the latch 144 is so disposed that the distancefrom the normally uncompressed plane of contact of the strips 148 and15.0 to the center of the hole is slightly shorter than the distancefrom this plane to the axis of the screw bolt, so that, to engage thelatch hole with the head of the bolt, the clamp 104 has to be squeezeddownwardly with reference to the support 102. When released the latch isstressed upwardly by the elasticity of the strips 148 and 150 so thatthe hole is held firmly engaged with the underside of the screw boltbeneath the head 122 and hence there is no danger of the latch becomingdisengaged accidentally.

At the upper ends of the latches the walls have portions 152l52 whichextend inwardly so as to conceal the endportions of the supports andclamps 104. The inner edges 154-154 of the portions 152l52 providebarriers which prevent lateral movement of the articles disposed betweenthe supports and clamps- The lower corners of the portions 152-152 areflared to facilitate engagement with the supports when the latches areswung downwardly into parallelism with the legs.

.To prevent unauthorized removal of the rack as a whole from thevehicle, flexible elements in the form of hardened steel cables 156 areattached at one end to the inner sides of the latches 144 which haveportions adapted to extend downwardly from the legs between the lintelsof the doors and door frames 158 and 164i. Buttons 162 are secured atthe extremities of the flexible elements which are of such size thatthey cannot pass through the space between the lintels when the doorsare closed. The flexible elements are preferably adjustably attached tothe inner sides of the latches by means of toothed washers 164 and wingnuts 166 and pass through eyes 168 which slidably support them in theproper position.

The latches 144, as can be seen by reference to FIG.

15, are free to swing inwardly beneath the clamps or upwardly above theclamps. Either position of the latch permits placing an article on thesupport without having manually to hold the latch out of the way.

The interengaged channel-shaped structure of thelegs and latchesprevents access to the flexible members and provides a neat andattractive appearance. f

It should be understood that the present disclosure is ,for the purposeof illustration only and that this invention includes all modificationsand equivalents which fall within versely of the top of the vehicle,legs formed at the outer ends of the support extending downwardlytherefrom, the lower ends of said legs providing feet which rest in thegutter and hold the support spaced from the top of the being operativeto draw the leg clamp and leg together to bind the gutter therebetween,article clamps mounted on the support parallel to its upper side, meanshingedly connecting the adjacent ends of the article clamps to thesupport, lat h members pivotally connected to the distal ends of thearticle clamps for securing the article clamps in clamping engagementwith the support, each latch member comprising a channel-shaped membermounted with its open side facing the leg, said channel-shaped memberextending downwardly along the leg over the leg clamp, the back andflanges of said channel-shaped member covering the distal ends of thesupport and article clamp at that end and, in conjunction with the edgesof the leg, forming an enclosure about the leg clamp rendering itinaccessible, the edge portions of the flanges crossing the distal endsof the support and article clamp preventing access to the space betweenthe latch member and the 'leg at their upper ends, said latch membercontaining a hole adjacent its lower end adapted to be engaged with thehead of the screw to hold the article clamp in engagement with thearticle support, and means for securing the latch member in engagementwith the head of the screw comprising a flexible cord attached at oneend to the inner side of the latch member, said cord being of a length.to'extend between the lintels of the door and door frame of the vehicleand having at its inner end a rigid part too 7 large to pass between thelintels of the door and door frame when the door is closed.

2. A vehicle-carrying rack according to claim 1, wherein the legs areoutwardly open channel members having spaced parallel flanges engageablewithin the flanges of the latch members.

3. A vehicle-carrying rack according to claim 1, wherein the articleclamp, and the lower corners being flared outwardly and constitutingmeans for guiding the latch members into telescoping engagement with thelegs.

4. A vehicle-carrying rack according to claim 1, wherein the flexibleelements are adjnstably anchored tothe inner sides of the latches.

5. A vehicle-carrying rack according to claim 1, wherein the articleclamps, when released, stand upwardly at angles to the article support,and the latches can be rotatedto positions resting on and parallel tothe upper sides of the article clamps.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,630,257 Nielsen Mar. 3, 1953 2,720,350 Felton Oct. 11, 1955 r2,772,824 Binding Dec. 4, '1956 2,788,928 Des Fosses Apr. 16, 19572,833,453 Barreca May 6, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 769,425 Great Britain Mar.6, 1957 782,775 France Mar. 25,1935 789,793 France Aug. 26,19351,021,590 France Dec. 3, 1952 1,133,051

France Nov. 12, 1956

1. A VEHICLE-CARRYING RACK FOR THE TOP OF A VEHICLE HAVING DRAIN GUTTERSAT OPPOSITE SIDES, COMPRISING AN ARTICLE SUPPORT ADAPTED TO BE DISPOSEDPARALLEL TO AND TRANSVERSELY OF THE TOP OF THE VEHICLE, LEGS FORMED ATTHE OUTER ENDS OF THE SUPPORT EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY THEREFROM, THE LOWERENDS OF SAID LEGS PROVIDING FEET WHICH REST IN THE GUTTER AND HOLD THESUPPORT SPACED FROM THE TOP OF THE VEHICLE, A LEG CLAMP MOUNTED NEAR THELOWER END OF EACH LEG HAVING A PART ENGAGED WITH THE UNDERSIDE OF THEGUTTER, A SCREW EXTENDING THROUGH THE LEG CLAMP FROM THE OUTSIDE INTOTHREADED ENGAGEMENT WITH THE LEG, SAID SCREW BEING OPERATIVE TO DRAW THELEG CLAMP AND LEG TOGETHER TO BIND THE GUTTER THEREBETWEEN, ARTICLECLAMPS MOUNTED ON THE SUPPORT PARALLEL TO ITS UPPER SIDE, MEANS HINGEDLYCONNECTING THE ADJACENT ENDS OF THE ARTICLE CLAMPS TO THE SUPPORT, LATCHMEMBERS PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO THE DISTAL ENDS OF THE ARTICLE CLAMPS FORSECURING THE ARTICLE CLAMPS IN CLAMPING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE SUPPORT,EACH LATCH MEMBER COMPRISING A CHANNEL-SHAPED MEMBER MOUNTED WITH ITSOPEN SIDE FACING THE LEG, SAID CHANNEL-SHAPED MEMBER EXTENDINGDOWNWARDLY ALONG THE LEG OVER THE LEG CLAMP, THE BACK AND FLANGES OFSAID CHANNEL-SHAPED MEMBER COVERING THE DISTAL ENDS OF THE SUPPORT ANDARTICLE CLAMP AT THAT END AND, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE EDGES OF THE LEG,FORMING AN ENCLOSURE ABOUT THE LEG CLAMP RENDERING IT INACCESSIBLE, THEEDGE PORTIONS OF THE FLANGES CROSSING THE DISTAL ENDS OF THE SUPPORT ANDARTICLE CLAMP PREVENTING ACCESS TO THE SPACE BETWEEN THE LATCH MEMBERCONTAINING A HOLE ADJACENT ITS LOWER END ADAPTED TO BE ENGAGED WITH THEHEAD OF THE SCREW TO HOLD THE ARTICLE CLAMP IN ENGAGEMENT WITH THEARTICLE SUPPORT, AND MEANS FOR SECURING THE LATCH MEMBER IN ENGAGEMENTWITH THE HEAD OF THE SCREW COMPRISING A FLEXIBLE CORD ATTACHED AT ONEEND TO THE INNER SIDE OF THE LATCH MEMBER, SAID CORD BEING OF A LENGTHTO EXTEND BETWEEN THE LINTELS OF THE DOOR AND DOOR FRAME OF THE VEHICLEAND HAVING AT ITS INNER END A RIGID PART TOO LARGE TO PASS BETWEEN THELINTELS OF THE DOOR AND DOOR FRAME WHEN THE DOOR IS CLOSED.